'Playground Shoving Match' Gets 2 Orange Deputies Fired

January 16, 1992|By Chris Quinn of The Sentinel Staff

Two Orange County deputy sheriffs have been fired because they scuffled with each other when they answered the same crime call in December.

Major Pete Marcus fired deputies Tim Hetz and Richard Connolly, but they remain suspended with pay pending an appeal. Another sheriff's major will review the case to determine if the firings are warranted.

An internal investigation found that a Dec. 16 fight between Connolly and Hetz amounted to the crime of disorderly conduct, but neither officer was charged. They had arrived separately at the Wynfield Inn on Westwood Boulevard off south International Drive, where a burglar alarm had been triggered accidentally.

Hetz told investigators that Connolly tried to speak with hotel workers before Hetz, who was the backup officer, was in a safe position. Connolly disagreed, and Hetz became angry.

Hetz admitted shoving Connolly, who hit Hetz in the face.

John Cassady, sheriff's office psychologist, reviewed the case and wrote, ''It would certainly be appropriate to compare that incident to two school boys in a playground shoving match.''